This comprehensive textbook will become required reading for postgraduate students seeking to understand the principles of service operations management and for undergraduate students specializing in hospitality, tourism or the public sector. It will also serve as a handbook for operations managers in service organizations as they seek to develop and implement improved operations strategies.
Focusing on service delivery design, capacity, recovery, performance measurement and service strategy, the challenge of delivering exceptional service quality is addressed through a comparison of customers' perceptions and expectations. A new approach to quality in services describes the tools and methods for continuous service improvement.
This accessible and engaging textbook is the ideal foundation for a course in service operations management. Each chapter:
- represents a lecture and specific topic - with specified learning objectives and outcomes
- develops using a 'chunking and scaffold' pedagogical technique - sub-sections in the chapter develop the chapter's theme
- includes examples of organizations and small case-vignettes suitable for class/group discussion and larger cases of international organizations for set-work activity
- draws upon contemporary research with clear citations to show the source - each chapter has a bibliography and reference list
- includes a series of questions that can be asked of the audience/students - either to promote discussion or to be set as an assignment.